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Jessica Chobot: Stepping Into Daylight by Polygon

B

biosnake20

Member
LU6A6768.jpg
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Jessica Chobot's past has kept up with her. Licking a PSP 7 years ago put her in the spotlight and the industry, but she never left. And she's done some pretty awesome stuff since.
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Video feature.

When a paying guest enters a haunted house, one way or another they need to make it back out, either under their own power or escorted by a rescuer through a side door.
Horror video games are much the same. Although the emergency exit is more often than not the power switch, once you've seen the scares, you rarely want to go back. Zombie Studios hopes to change that, with Daylight.

Daylight will be procedurally generated, meaning each playthrough will be different than the one before. The levels will change. The scares will be different. Stitching it all together is the writing. And stitching together the writing is former full-time on-camera personality Jessica Chobot.

Chobot is not a trained writer. In her opinion, working as a host didn't even make her a journalist. Yet Zombie believes in her. The team voted on her treatment for the game and elected to bring her vision to life, and team members say it wasn't for her name.

The fact is that the name recognition Chobot brings to the project is as much a liability for Zombie as it is a boon. Her past makes her an easy target for those same critics that used to be her colleagues. Publisher Atlus even had a long conversation with Zombie about whether to promote the fact she was working on Daylight at all.

But making a successful game could be Chobot's chance to shake loose her past. And her unique writing talent could be the X factor that makes Daylight more than a one-shot scare.

How the two came to this crossroads is a long story.
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Full article here.
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
It looked like the posts they showed at the beginning of the video were from NeoGAF. FOR SHAME, GAF.

She seems cool. I've read/seen some of her stuff on IGN before, it never stood out to me as exceptional but it certainly isn't bad. I didn't ever know that Jessica Chobot was "the PSP licker." Learn something new every day!

EDIT: Guys, I think the first few posters were saying "The PSP girl?" as a tongue-in-cheek comment.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
I think the Mass Effect insertion was way worse than the PSP licking, but the former isn't entirely her fault. She got paid for a job, it's just a shame that it existed in the first place.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
I am sceptical about her involvement with this game but I am interested to see how it turns out so I guess they got me?

Like I have no interest in buying the game but I dont think I heard about the game until she was announced as a writer so it worked out for them.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
ronito said:
That PSP licker? What makes her think she can write a game?
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Let's be real, what makes 99% of the writers in this industry think they can write a game? Even when pros are being used from other industries they often find out it's a lot different with games.
 
H

Hedge

Member
So if she's not a writer, and her journalism was only mediocre.. what merits does she have for working on this game? I mean, why exactly hire her?
 
K

Kinyou

Member
Jessica Chobot's past has kept up with her. Licking a PSP 7 years ago put her in the spotlight and the industry, but she never left. And she's done some pretty awesome stuff since.
Click to expand...
Like that fantastic cameo in Mass Effect 3. "Battlespace" sure is the right name for a show that's about the annihilation of billions of lives.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
Wow, so many GAF quotes in the video.

That whole interview was kinda weird and seemed focused on the internet's reaction to Jessica writing a game (while throwing in a bit of melodrama - so... Polygon).

Her only retort seems to be "hey, I entered this industry x years ago, and I'm still here". That's great but if someone makes a career out of being a light-hearted entertainment presenter, not a writer/reporter, surely you don't feign surprise when people question your writing chops?
 
C

Carl

Member
I guess she has to have a talent at something. She sure as shit hasn't shown it yet, so maybe writing is the talent. She's trained in it so that's a good start.

Edit: Oh i totally misread that as saying she IS a trained writer. She isn't. Guess it probably won't be her hidden talent then
 
C

Chairhome

Member
Started from the bottom now we here.
Follow me on her journey:
Licks PSP -> Hired at IGN as a host despite no credentials -> Featured character in a video game -> Horror writer despite no credentials.


Quit college now, budding writers.
 
F

filler

Banned
If she doesn't want to be known as the psp licker, why not try using her real last name? If you want to be taken seriously, then stop telling people to call you chobot.
 
F

Fushichou187

Member
Interesting article. Not a fan of her media personality presence during the IGN years-- and I thought her inclusion in ME3 felt shoehorned beyond belief-- however I have always seen her to be very intelligent and have a solid understanding about what makes good games resonate with players, so I am very interested to see how Daylight pans out.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Freezie KO said:
Have you seen game writing? She has to be a step above typewriter monkeys to reach the median.
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So, you're saying if enough monkeys lick enough PSP's they could write a gamestory?

(I'm sorry, that was too obvious to not take a potshot)

I dunno if "faith alone" is enough for me to give it a look. But given how people react toward women in the industry, I don't think advertising her like Jade Raymond for Ass Creed is a good idea.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
I've always enjoyed Chobot's stuff, if the studio believes in her I'll give it a shot. Let's see what she's got.

Watching now.
 
S

Squire

Banned
Yeah, I admire what they're doing, but if the writing doesn't deliver, it (specifically) will be torn to shreds. No training? That must be one hell of a treatment then.
 
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